So why? Well it's a quick way of sharing the moments with the people who either are in them or else know the people or are related to the people in them. The impulse to share comes partly from the fact that I am discovering a lot of pictures that I have never seen before. I think my family will enjoy seeing them and maybe the rest of my whanau will too. So there it is.
This post, and maybe a few to follow, will feature some favourite photos that I've rediscovered. I will also attempt to explain why they are special.
To kick us off - here are some great fav snaps from the early years.
I love this photo of my parents on their honeymoon on Norfolk Island. They were married on April 18, 1953. My father was 25 and my mother was 23. They look so relaxed. The smiles are bright and much more real than the wedding photos. They also look very smart. My father, of course, was always dapper and I'd expect nothing more than a smart suit and tie on his honeymoon. My mother, though, matches him for style on this occasion!
And then...four years later, I arrived.
Mum looks a tad harassed in all of my christening photos. Being a first time mother is tough (just ask Tina). It probably didn't help that I was not an easy little guy to have around (I know - hard to believe - don't I look serene - but there we have it). The story about how they put me in a back bedroom and closed all the doors in between to deal with my noise was related to me many times.
I think this was taken in the backyard of the house they were renting in Oak Street (Royal Oak, Auckland). We lived there until I was two and then moved to 18 Korma Ave around the time that my brother was born.
I love the composition of this photo (a bit of a fluke I think as the other christening photos do not share this feature) and the fact that it's not posed. Dad caught the moment here in between the ritual grandparent holding the baby shots. The black and white mixes with the garden scene and produces a striking image.
As I said, two years later, I was no longer an only child. I have hundreds of photos of the dynamic duo at a variety of locations. I've picked two of my favs to include here.
The first is outside the back of Korma Ave (kitchen directly behind and laundry/cum occasional dark room is on the right). We lived in this house (see below) for the next 12 years. I helped with the construction and painting of the house. Really - I did! We had happy happy times there. You can tell that we had very privileged growing up years behind us and before us from this photo, just don't dwell too much on my peachy keen fringe!
This second portrait of contented brotherhood sums us up pretty well (I am the big brother after all). We're off to Sunday school in innocent 1960s Nu Zild. Here we are outside the front of Korma Ave (front door is to the left, lounge is behind us). Needless to say our mother could always recognise us in a crowd by looking for our legs.
That'll do it for now. Ka kite ano (inshallah)
Love and peace - Wozza
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